Tuesday

Apr 28, 2020 at 3:13 PM

Gov. Mike DeWine did an about-face Tuesday on wearing face masks to lessen the spread of coronavirus, announcing that face coverings are recommended — rather than mandatory — as Ohio gradually reopens.

After his administration posted online on Monday that donning face masks would be mandatory in workplaces and for shoppers returning to stores, the governor and his advisers appeared to changed their minds -- and they did on store customers.

Then, early Tuesday evening -- a bit over two hours after DeWine’s news briefing ended -- the governor’s office said masks generally would be required in the workplace and for store employees.

"Face coverings would still be mandated for employees unless wearing a face covering is not advisable by a health care professional, goes against industry best practices, or is not permitted by federal or state laws and regulations," DeWine’s office said in a statement.

Dan Tierney, DeWine’s press secretary, said revised online material posted Tuesday afternoon still stating masks would not be required for employees in both the workplace and stores was in error. The governor’s prepared remarks were silent on the topic, Tierney said.

Earlier, in dropping mask mandates for store customers and others venturing out, DeWine said, "In the last 24 hours, it is clear the mandatory mask requirement for people who are shopping, going into retail businesses, is offensive to some of our fellow Ohioans."

DeWine then said that employers and businesses can require all employees, visitors and customers to wear masks, and that he recommends such action. "I think it will be fairly standard in the workplace," he added.

Asked to specify the medical reason for not mandating masks, DeWine did not address the science, instead saying that some Ohioans "felt it was a step too far" and believed that "the governor should not be telling me what to do."

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other experts say that masks do not protect the wearer, but rather help prevent them from spreading the virus if they don’t have symptoms or are in an early stage of the disease.

Meanwhile, the state reported 444 more coronavirus cases and 46 more COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday.

A day after DeWine acted to begin reviving Ohio’s shattered economy with scheduled business openings, the state’s total of confirmed and probable virus cases increased to 16,769, and the total confirmed and probable deaths rose to 799.

Franklin County — with the second-most cases in Ohio — reported 85 additional coronavirus cases, to raise its total to 2,090, and five more deaths, to increase that total to 62.

The first three virus cases from southern Ohio’s Vinton County -- the state’s smallest in population -- were reported, placing the virus in each of Ohio’s 88 counties.

The state reported five more inmate deaths at the virus-slammed Pickaway Correctional Institution, which houses many already-ill prisoners, raising its total of deaths to 18. A nurse at the prison died Sunday from COVID-19.

With the partial reopening planned, DeWine said he remains concerned about the Ohioans most at risk. Ninety-two percent of Ohio’s deaths are among those 60 or older, with half of the deaths occurring among people 80 or older.

Like a large majority of the other states, Ohio has failed to meet the federal guideline calling for a 14-day downward trend in the number of coronavirus cases even as its "cautious" reopening awaits.

Ohio also has been lagging among the states in testing, but DeWine says testing will increase nearly six-fold by the end of May due to Ohio-produced materials that are needed to escalate testing.

Under pressure from both open-up-Ohio advocates and those calling for placing public health above economic interests, the governor on Monday outlined his staggered reopening plan.

With about 1 million Ohioans now unemployed, DeWine said the state must get back to work — but in a way that lessens a feared increase in coronavirus cases after Ohioans have been under a stay-at-home order since March 23.

The plan, dubbed #ResponsibleRestartOhio, leaves a large chunk of Ohio’s economy — such as taverns and dine-in service at restaurants — offline and indefinitely closed.

Here’s what the state says can open when — provided that there is compliance with mandatory virus precautions, including six-foot social distancing, the wearing of masks, employee health checks, sanitation and limits on numbers admitted.

All gatherings of more than 10 people also will remain forbidden under the gradual reopening.

DeWine said business groups and lawmakers will work to gather groups of restaurants, barber shops, hair salons and other still-closed businesses to develop best practices for their eventual reopening.

The administration is also reviewing whether to reopen Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles registrar offices — ordered closed on March 18 — in concert with the May 12 retail opening. Ohioans with driver’s licenses that have expired have been given a pass on being ticketed.

Some remaining questions about the reopening probably can be answered by the modified order to be issued by state Health Director Dr. Amy Acton. However, it had not been released as of late Tuesday afternoon.

Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther said Tuesday that the city will follow the guidelines outlined by DeWine to reopen the state to business.

Ginther had asked DeWine to mandate that everyone wear a mask, but DeWine declined. Ginther has also called for more testing capacity, more testing equipment and managing care at long-term care facilities.

Complaints made against businesses will be addressed by the city health department with education, warnings and then a citation if they continue to ignore virus precautions.

Ginther said he also spoke directly to DeWine about the need for workers to have child care available. "It is a big challenge. We are going to follow the lead of our public-health experts," Ginther said.

DeWine’s refusal to reopen all of Ohio for business beginning Friday was met with disdain by Ohio House Republicans. Their leader, Speaker Larry Householder, said their wishes were "disrespected."

DeWine countered: "I don’t expect everyone to agree with every decision we make, but I have the ultimate responsibility."

Several business and government groups praised DeWine for his caution, though. The Ohio Alliance of Mayors complimented his "measured and thoughtful plan for how we can begin reopening our economy while still prioritizing public health."

DeWine said it would be "totally irresponsible" to reopen Ohio all at once and as a result increase virus deaths.

Meanwhile, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced Tuesday that it is furloughing workers and eliminating some non-animal-care positions because of financial hardships caused by the coronavirus closure.

In a release, officials said they had furloughed 29 full- and part-time employees and eliminated 33 non-animal-care positions across the Columbus Zoo and The Wilds.

The zoo says more than half of its earned revenue comes from admissions and other public purchases such as food and gift shop sales, and the prolonged closure is taking a financial toll.

"The Zoo has been closed since March 16 due to this global pandemic, and while we are confident that we’ll reopen sometime this summer, we cannot predict when." said Tom Staff, the zoo’s president and CEO.

Dispatch Reporter Lucas Sullivan contributed to this story.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow

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